Glazer, Law appointed to state Gaming Commission

ALBANY >> The state Gaming Commission appointed two more men with close political ties to Gov. Andrew Cuomo to the siting panel that will recommend who gets lucrative state licenses to operate gambling casinos.

In a brief teleconference Monday, Gaming Commission members voted in Dennis E. Glazer, a lawyer married to Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore, who was Cuomo’s appointee to head the JCOPE ethics panel; and Kevin Law, the head of the Long Island Association and co-chairman of Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Council there. The two fill the final remaining seats on the siting panel.

The other three members of the Resort Gaming Facility Location Board announced in February are Paul Francis, a former Cuomo aide; Hofstra University President Stuart Rabinowitz, Cuomo’s Long Island REDC co-chairman; and former New York City Comptroller William Thompson, who Cuomo appointed to head his MWBE minority and women owned business team in 2011.

“These individuals will evaluate the gaming applications that have been received last week and will ultimately make a recommendation to the gaming commission for a licensor,” state Gaming Commission Director Robert Williams said.

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He said the commission is still on target to make a recommendation in the fall, but that it was too early to say if the casino winners will be announced before or after the November election when Cuomo is seeking a second term.

“We’re still at a point right now of evaluating the materials that came in and circulating them to the members, to the Gaming Facility Location Board’s consultants and to the various agencies that will assist in evaluation,” he said.

Summaries of the information submitted by the casino applicants should be online by the end of this week, commission officials said, with more details posted as the documents are cleared for public release. The commission’s plan is to post everything that would be available under the FOIL act online so that it will not be necessary to submit a request to view the materials.

The commission also plans more public events after Labor Day. One is a public presentation by applicants to the Facility Location Board in Albany, followed by public comment meetings in each of the regions eligible for casinos.

In the Capital Region, the casino applicants are Capital Region Gaming LLC, Rivers Casino & Resort at Mohawk Harbor project in Schenectady; Florida Acquisition Corp., which is pursuing a casino for Amsterdam, Montgomery County; Howe Caves Development LLC, which has a plan for a casino near the subterranean tourist attraction in Schoharie County; NYS Funding LLC, which has proposed a Hard Rock casino in Rensselaer directly across the Hudson River from downtown Albany; and Saratoga Harness Racing Inc. (I), which has proposed the Capital View Casino & Resort in East Greenbush.